Surprise bike giveaway sends 120 students home with a new ride
First graders stepped off the school bus last Friday morning to a shiny new set of wheels waiting to be pedaled.
National nonprofit Can’d Aid partnered with Yasso and Market Basket to donate 120 bicycles and helmets to first graders at Tilton Elementary School, as part of the organizations’ fourth annual collaborative initiative to provide bikes to underserved youth across the country.
For many of the boys and girls in attendance, May 29 marked the first time they had ever owned a bicycle.
John Lopez of Can’d Aid led the event, rallying students seated by their homeroom classes while parents and teachers gathered nearby with cellphones ready to capture the moment.
Can’d Aid Ambassador and professional BMX rider Mike Murfitt also perform some stunts for the children’s entertainment.
Ahead of the surprise delivery, there was a community-wide bike build Thursday night at Wicked Axe.
What is typically a spot for chucking blades at wooden targets turned into an assembly line of spokes and handlebars as about 70 volunteers — including parents, teachers and Market Basket employees — pieced together all 120 bicycles.
